W.S. MacKenzie

More than half of the world's petroleum is to be found in carbonate rocks, for example in the Middle East, the former USSR and in North America. These rocks show a bewildering diversity of grains and textures, due in part to the wealth of different fossil organisms which have contributed to carbonate sedimentation, and in part to a wide variety of diagenetic processes which can radically modify textures and obscure the depositional fabric. Careful petrographic study with a polarising microscope is a key element of any study of carbonate sediments, as a companion to field or core logging, and as a necessary precursor to geochemical analysis. This atlas, which illustrates in full colour a range of features not attempted in any general textbook, is designed as a laboratory manual to keep beside the microscope, as an aid to identifying grain types and textures in carbonates. It appeals alike to undergraduate and graduate students and to professionals in teaching institutions, research laboratories and industry.

This concise, clear and handy–sized volume, aimed at the undergraduate level, provides an introduction to the observation, description and identifi cation in thin section, using the polarizing microscope, of samples of the commonlyoccurring rocks and minerals. Illustrated with a wealth of full colour thin section photomicrographs, and with the original images enhanced by new examples and a revised text, the book explains how to observe mineral and rock samples under the microscope. The book highlights the important diagnostic features of minerals and deals with all rock types – igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic – each with equal emphasis and authority, giving students the knowledge and confi dence to begin to identify specimens for themselves. While intended for students in geology, geography, civil engineering and materials science, the book stands on its own as a beautiful collection of photomicrographs and a permanent source of reference and fascination for all those interested in the nature and science of the world of rocks and minerals.

This concise, clear and handy–sized volume, aimed at the undergraduate level, provides an introduction to the observation, description and identifi cation in thin section, using the polarizing microscope, of samples of the commonlyoccurring rocks and minerals. Illustrated with a wealth of full colour thin section photomicrographs, and with the original images enhanced by new examples and a revised text, the book explains how to observe mineral and rock samples under the microscope. The book highlights the important diagnostic features of minerals and deals with all rock types – igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic – each with equal emphasis and authority, giving students the knowledge and confi dence to begin to identify specimens for themselves. While intended for students in geology, geography, civil engineering and materials science, the book stands on its own as a beautiful collection of photomicrographs and a permanent source of reference and fascination for all those interested in the nature and science of the world of rocks and minerals.

Provides a very clear guide to sedimentary rock types as seen under the microscope supported by practical aspects of slide preparation.

'Hurray for Mackenzie and Guilford for at last we have a pictorial guide to the rock-forming minerals! . . . such feasts of colour in mineralogy books are rare . . . an admirable guide' New Scientist

More than half of the world's petroleum is to be found in carbonate rocks, for example in the Middle East, the former USSR and in North America. These rocks show a bewildering diversity of grains and textures, due in part to the wealth of different fossil organisms which have contributed to carbonate sedimentation, and in part to a wide variety of diagenetic processes which can radically modify textures and obscure the depositional fabric. Careful petrographic study with a polarising microscope is a key element of any study of carbonate sediments, as a companion to field or core logging, and as a necessary precursor to geochemical analysis. This atlas, which illustrates in full colour a range of features not attempted in any general textbook, is designed as a laboratory manual to keep beside the microscope, as an aid to identifying grain types and textures in carbonates. It appeals alike to undergraduate and graduate students and to professionals in teaching institutions, research laboratories and industry.

Provides a very clear guide to sedimentary rock types as seen under the microscope supported by practical aspects of slide preparation.

'Hurray for Mackenzie and Guilford for at last we have a pictorial guide to the rock-forming minerals! . . . such feasts of colour in mineralogy books are rare . . . an admirable guide'New Scientist